______________NORTH SEATTLE COLLEGE___________________
Basic & Transitional Studies
Spring Quarter 2016
COURSE SYLLABUS
COURSE: ESL 042.01 (Item #1393)
CLASSROOM: IB 1308
TIME: Daily 9:00-10:50
INSTRUCTOR: Laura Jensen
Office: IB 2409C
Office Hours: By appointment
Telephone: 206.934.4558 (Press extension #2) 
E-mail: laura.jensen@seattlecolleges.edu 
Website: http://facweb.northseattle.edu/ljensen 
Important Dates:
Memorial Day: Monday. May 30th—Holiday, No class
CASAS Testing: Held during the 8th week
Last Day of Class: One-hour class Monday, June 13h (You will get your course
grades and registration forms on this date. Please begin any trips after this date.)
Summer Quarter Begins: Monday, June 25
Welcome to ESL 042. I have big plans for you this quarter: I want to change your life! Well, at
least I’d like to change the way you think about the English language. I’d also like to equip you to
go on teaching yourself after our time together ends.
Course Objective: To improve your English skills in speaking, reading, writing, and listening in
order to help you be a successful citizen and community member, family member, student
and/or employee as an adult living in the United States.
This class will help you:
 to practice and improve your comprehension of written and spoken English
 to increase your understanding of English grammar
 to expand your vocabulary
 to increase your speaking skills
 to increase your study skills and other life skills
 to practice and improve your English pronunciation
 to practice and improve your sentence and paragraph writing
 to increase your confidence and pleasure in using English
What you will need for this class:
1. Required Textbooks:
Future 4 Package (Text, Workbook, and Audio)
By CURTIS&SCHMIDT
Publisher: PEARSON
ISBN: 9780132455794
New: $38.55
1984
George Orwell
PUBLISHER: PEARSON
ISBN: 9781405862417
$5.40-$12
Both of these required texts are available at the NSC bookstore.
2. Other Supplies:

A three-ring binder for your many handouts, divided into the following sections:
1. Parts of Speech
2. Verbals
3. Clauses & Sentence Types
4. Perfect Tenses
5. Writing
6. Readings
7. Tests & Study Skills
Note: It’s very helpful if you can contribute a few dollars to the copy fund envelope later this
quarter to help offset the costs of the many handouts I give you.

A yellow highlighter
Please bring your supplies to class tomorrow!
Homework for tomorrow:
1. Please buy your textbook package and other supplies.
2. Highlight or underline the important information on your syllabus. Keep your syllabus in the
front of your notebook until the quarter is over. Pay special attention to the sections Your ESL
042 Grade and How to Do Well in 042.
3. If you have Internet access, please go to my faculty website and bookmark it or save it to
your favorites.
a. Then click on the ESL 042 link in the blue sidebar.
b. Next, open the “Extra Practice” folder.
c. Finally, take a look at what is in the “Basic Grammar Explanations” and
“Recommended Websites” folders.
Class rules:
 Please do your homework carefully before class.
Review the lessons daily at home. Keep your handouts organized by section in your binder.
Use tests and quizzes to motivate yourself to study.
Speak only English in class.
Please turn off your cell phones before coming to class. Please do not use your phone during
class. If your phone rings during class, you can either sing us a song or bring a treat to share
to make up for the interruption.
I will excuse one missed quiz, but no missed unit tests or writing assignments. Your daily
presence in class is very important!
Take time to do your writing assignments carefully. Think about what you want to say. Be
neat. Learn to find and correct your mistakes.
If you cannot come to class, please call or e-mail me. It’s good manners.
 Use standard English in your emails to your teachers: punctuate and spell correctly.


If you call me to leave a voicemail, please be sure to use extension #2. In your phone
message, tell me your name and your class (ESL 042), why you cannot be in class, and
when you plan to return to class.
If you miss the class, please call your classmate to get the homework and/or check the
Homework folder on my website. You are responsible for making up any missed work.
My classmates are:
Name __________________________ Phone: ______________________________
Name __________________________ Phone: _____________________________
 No yawning during class! (It’s one of my pet peeves.) 
Please don’t bring children or friends to class with you. Our campus insurance does not
allow it.
Please do not wear strong perfume or other scented products to class. Some people are
sensitive or allergic to these fragrances, which makes it hard for them to concentrate.
Always do your own work. Never copy (plagiarize). I’m as serious as a snakebite
about this! I do not give credit for plagiarized work, and I will use it as an example
in class.
PLAGIARISM & COPYING
It is very important for you to do your own 042 work in class or at home. This is the
best way to improve your English, and it is a way to be fair to your classmates who have
worked hard to complete their work themselves. Respect yourself, your classmates,
and your teacher by avoiding even the appearance of cheating:
 Do not copy another student’s paragraph, test, or homework.
Keep your eyes on your own work during tests and quizzes.
 Electronic devices (such as cell phones) must be put away during tests and quizzes.
 Do not speak to anyone other than your teacher during tests and quizzes.
 Do not copy all or part of a paragraph from a book or the Internet.
 Do not ask someone to do any of your work for you.
You will not improve your English skills if you do these things, and you will be cheating. Now you know
my rules; if you choose to break any of them, please do not try to explain or justify your behavior to
me. Instead, please be careful to respect these class rules at all times. If you are ever unsure of what is
appropriate, please ask me.
Your ESL 042 Grade:
Your class grade will be based on your in-class & at-home writing assignments; speaking
presentation and listening assignments; homework, including completing workbook
assignments for Future 4 and completing all reading assignments; regular grammar
quizzes and three comprehensive unit tests for Future 4. In-class and homework
assignments are designed to prepare you to succeed on these evaluations.
Make-Up Tests:
I give many quizzes in this class, and I do not allow make-up quizzes. Instead, if you
must be absent, then you get one excused quiz which will not affect your grade. Any
additional missed quizzes will be zeroes.
If you must miss one of our three big unit tests, you can schedule a time to make it up in
advance. However, once I have returned the tests (usually the next class day), it is too
late to take a make-up test. It is your responsibility to schedule any make-up exams with
me before the tests are returned; you should contact me immediately if you must be
absent on a test date.
Late assignments: I usually give you plenty of time to complete your assignments so that
you can fit the time to do the work well into your busy schedules. I put the “due by” date
on the homework planners on my website. This is the last day to receive full credit for the
assignment. You are always welcome to turn the assignment in before the “due by” date,
but not after. If I accept late work at all, it cannot be worth more than half credit. (This
means that if a 10-point assignment is turned in after the due-by date and the work would
have gotten eight out of 10 points if it had been turned in on time, it will receive four points
because it was late.)
Workbooks: At the end of each unit, I will check your workbooks to make sure that you
have done the homework. Therefore, you must bring your workbook to class on test
days. It is important to do and correct these assignments (using the key in the back of the
workbook) so that the entire class is prepared to make progress in class as quickly as
possible. If all the assignments are thoroughly done when I check the workbooks, you will
receive the maximum of five points for that unit. These points will be part of your
preparedness grade.
Course Grade Formula:
Your grade in this class will be calculated using this formula:
Multi-Skill Unit Tests & Workbook
Reading, Writing, and Vocabulary
Grammar Quizzes
Speaking Role Plays
25%
40%
25%
10%
How to Do Well in ESL 042:
1) Organize your handouts: You will receive many handouts in this class. It is
important to organize these handouts in the correct sections of your binder (see
Supplies). Each new idea builds on the previous ones, so you should review these
handouts often.
By the end of the quarter, you will have your very own 042 grammar reference
book!
2) Use all the resources that come with your textbook. Your textbook, Future 4,
provides many ways for you to practice, review, and really learn the content of each
unit: there is a workbook with an answer key and a practice CD with both audio files
and many practice activities and exercises.
Be sure to complete the workbook and practice CD activities before each unit test, and
spend extra time on any area that is challenging for you. Also, know what resources
are available for reference in the back of your textbook.
3) Use my website: The Extra Practice and Recommended Websites folders offer
you many opportunities to reinforce things we have learned in class. My website is a
good place to look if you are struggling to understand an idea, and it’s also a good
place to check if you are interested in learning even more about something we have
discussed in class.
4) Take good care of your lovely brain! You cannot do your best work if you do not
take care of the body your brain lives in. Do your best to nourish it. A lot of learning
actually happens while you are asleep, so adequate sleep is necessary, too.
Repeat Policy: Although many students take this class twice, students cannot take
the same class more than three times without permission from the Assistant Dean.
GRADING SCALE:
College Transcript Grades
S
Y
NC
Satisfactory (Passing scores in all areas)
Move to Level 5A
Continuing class (Making progress, but less
than passing scores in some skill areas)
Stay in Level 4B
No credit (Did not attend and/or do enough work) Stay in Level 4B
Instructor Scores
Grades on individual assignments and quizzes/exams will show your progress as follows:
Outstanding—may qualify to skip 5A
Excellent – ready for level 5A in this area
Satisfactory – good progress toward level 5A
Borderline – need more work in this area
Not ready for level 5A in this area
95-100%
90-94%
80-89%
75-79%
74% or below
Percentage grades are calculated by dividing the number of points received by the number of
points possible: a score of 12 out of 15 points equals 80%.
You cannot move up to Level 5A with a cumulative score in this class of less than 75%.
Note: I want to help you understand English! Students are encouraged to write interesting
grammar, vocabulary, or pronunciation questions on the board before class begins; we’ll begin by
discussing your question. (Please try to write an entire sentence, not just a single word or
phrase.)
A Note about Disabilities
As a part of my commitment to student learning, I want to support all students. If you have a
disability that will affect your performance in this class, please let me know. I encourage students
with disabilities to contact Disability Services for support: CC 2346A (located in Student Success
Services in the College Center building).
CASAS Test Policy: In the 8th week of the quarter, you will take the CASAS tests in reading and
listening. These tests do not directly affect your grade in this class, but they are very important
because they show the state that ESL students are really learning English. If the state sees that
your English is improving, it will continue to pay most of your tuition for ESL classes.
Therefore, everyone must take the CASAS tests. Students who don’t take a post-test will
not be able to register for next quarter’s classes.
Computer Lab: Computers for students to use are available in IB 3303 (Instructional
Building, 3rd floor). Computers are also available in the Learning Center and the library.
Note about end-of-the-quarter gifts: By far the best gift you can give me is a handwritten
thank you note. Those notes mean the world to me!
Tutoring at the Page One Writing and Language Center
Need help? Want more practice? Visit the Page One Language & Writing Center (formerly
known as The Loft) on the first floor of the HHS building to get help with reading, writing,
grammar, pronunciation, etc., from a team of experienced and knowledgeable tutors.
The Center offers free tutoring for NSC students. Work one-on-one with a tutor to improve your
English or computer skills, or sign up for the Conversation Club or for tutoring online.
More information: https://northseattle.edu/tutoring/page-one-writing-center
Campus Closure:
To find out if the NSC campus is open if there is snow or an emergency, you can call
206.934.3600 and listen to the message.
I recommend using Seattle Colleges Alerts: Seattle Colleges students can sign-up to receive text
message and e-mail alerts in case of a campus emergency or unplanned closure.
https://www.getrave.com/login/seattlecolleges
Quotations about Second Language Learning:
You live a new life for every new language you speak.—Czech proverb
A different language is a different vision of life. –Frederico Fellini
Those who know no foreign language know nothing of their mother tongue.—Goethe
One who speaks only one language is one person, but one who speaks two languages is
two people.—Turkish proverb